Kingdom Keepers: The Return Book Two: Legacy of Secrets (19 page)

T
HE
E
SMERALDA WINDOW BOX
stood in the front of the bustling Penny Arcade. It looked like a wooden phone booth with a set of metal legs. The top half was glass, with the fortune-teller’s name painted in lettering across the top. Inside the window, Esmeralda could be seen from the waist up. She looked like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean: a puffy green satin blouse beneath a gold brocade black vest. The gypsy headscarf topped her shiny ceramic or wooden head, which had incredibly realistic facial features and makeup.

“If you squint,” Maybeck said, “she could be real, she’s so lifelike.”

“We can’t stay here,” Finn warned. “Too many people.”

It was true: they were being stared at. Some kids circled them, obviously intrigued by their disappearing act.

“I can help,” Maybeck said. He faced the kids. “Pretty neat, huh? You ever seen something so cool-o before?” The kids shook their heads. “They’re going to use us in a new attraction. Would you like that?” The kids’ heads bobbed enthusiastically. “But right now, you gotta zip the lips, okay? We’re kinda top secret—a secret only you know!”

As Maybeck kept the kids occupied, Finn tested the slot in the machine to see if their coin would fit. It did.

“So?” he asked the others. “If I do this, there’s probably no getting it back.”

Philby reached to stop him. “Why give one to Roy and one to Lillian? Are they supposed to know what to do with it? And Roy’s is in glass.”

“Glass can be broken,” Willa said.

“If we have to,” Charlene said, “we could go back to Roy’s office and get his coin. I mean, if we lose this one. Right? So, as much of a hassle as it would be, we don’t really lose anything by trying.”

Philby kept his projected hand over the coin slot. “I don’t know.”

“Special coin,” Finn said. “Special message. It feels like something Walt would do, you know? Esmeralda’s always going to be here. For the next sixty years, she’s in the park. Maybe he left specific orders to never remove her! Someone gets one of these coins, and whatever message Walt hid in here comes out. Doesn’t matter how long it’s been.”

“A little help here,” Maybeck said. He was running out of ways to keep the kids busy.

Finn and Philby shared a moment. They weren’t going to fight about it; it was going to be a team decision. At last, Philby pulled his projected hand away. Finn pushed the coin into the slot, and the five Keepers heard it roll down into the guts of the machine.

Esmeralda’s head moved from side to side.

“Creeeeeepy,” whispered Willa. “I’ve had her tell my fortune twenty times, I’ll bet. It never feels anything but weird.”

The gypsy’s right arm lifted and fell. Her head lifted slightly, and her torso bowed toward the window.

Willa jumped back. “She has never done that! Never ever. Ever!”

Other curious guests collected around the machine, putting the Keepers at high risk. Esmeralda already had fans that knew her movements. The bowing forward and raising her arms was new to everyone watching. A great chatter arose, sounding like crickets and tree frogs on a summer’s night.

A card slipped out onto the metal tray below the coin slot. Willa reached for it, but her fingers couldn’t grab it. Finn tried and took hold. “One, two, three!” All the Keepers spun around in unison; it happened too quickly for anyone to believe the five might have briefly disappeared. Then they took off running.

Willa snatched the card from Finn, her hands functioning again. “This isn’t right!” she panted. “Esmeralda prints out a whole paragraph on the card. This is just two sentences!”

“Proving,” Philby said, “that it’s special.”

“What does it say?” Charlene asked. She’d had to slow down to allow the rest of the Keepers to catch up.

Finn stole the card back. Philby took it and skidded to a stop. The Keepers backtracked. “What?” “Tell us!” “Read it!”

Philby’s voice faltered as he read, “‘I named it after you. I hope it moves you as much as it does me.’”

B
EING SUMMONED TO THE LOBBY
at the crack of dawn had an immediate effect on Amanda and Jess. First, they were tired from having been up in the middle of the night; second, they’d had no time to put themselves together, so they were deeply concerned about their appearances; third, this was not a request, but an order from the highest level.

It was impossible not to think they were in trouble—though they were always getting in trouble. Was this for carving the window trim? Amanda wondered.

For allowing files to be taken from the basement? Jess wondered.

In the lobby two men in uniforms met them. They had badges and arm patches. Definitely not a good sign. The two girls were led outside to a black SUV with dark tinted windows, put into the backseats and told to buckle up. The driver did not break the speed limit, but he was clearly in a hurry. The forty-five-minute drive took forty-five minutes, a first.

As they approached Burbank, the man in the passenger seat called someone on his cell phone. He spoke softly, too softly to be understood. Amanda nudged Jess, but Jess was off somewhere, staring out the darkened window, a frown on her face.

Upon arrival at the studio, the SUV maneuvered around a long line of waiting cars and irritated drivers. It was waved past the security booth, which stunned both girls. Every Cast Member and visitor had to stop and show an ID. What suddenly made Amanda and Jess so special?

Amanda figured it out first: the line of waiting cars had something to do with them. No one was being allowed into the studio until she and Jess arrived.

“What the heck is going on?” Amanda called into the front seat.

“I’m sorry, miss, but we aren’t at liberty to say. Mr. Garlington will explain everything, I’m sure.”

The SUV’s tires yipped to a stop.

“Joe?” Jess said.

“Joe,” Amanda echoed, seeing him standing all alone on the stone terrace in front of the Frank G. Wells building. He wore shorts, sandals, and a Disney company gray fleece, the morning air being chilled by a fresh breeze. As they drew closer, the girls were both offered similar jackets.

Joe had a team with him, all of whom looked grim. The girls slipped on the fleeces; Jess zipped hers all the way to her neck.

“Are we allowed to ask what’s going on, Mr. Garlington?” Amanda asked. Her last meeting with him flashed through her mind; she hoped this wasn’t payback.

“You are, and you are entitled to an answer, since apparently he’ll only speak to one or both of you.”

Joe motioned, turning the girls almost fully around. There, on a thick, gray concrete bench set on the terrace amid other such benches, sat a young boy. A dead boy.

“Dillard!” Amanda cried.

A
MANDA AND
J
ESS APPROACHED
slowly, unable to believe their eyes. Dillard Cole, Finn’s neighborhood buddy and best friend growing up, had lost his life to the Overtakers, a tragedy that lingered for all the Keepers—and for the Fairlies, too. Just seeing the boy—a DHI beyond any doubt—forced a lump into Amanda’s throat.

Following his untimely passing, Dillard’s DHI had appeared before, once or twice. It was a rare occurrence, and both Jess and Amanda understood the significance of the boy asking to speak to them.

“Dillard?” Amanda asked, a few feet from the hologram. The boy sitting there wasn’t a movie version of a hologram; he appeared absolutely real, his skin, hair and clothing opaque. His freckles, his green eyes, the smug expression were all Dillard. Two things gave away his projected state: his hair wasn’t moving, despite the wind, and the girls could see an extremely thin blue line along his perimeter. It was only visible because they were looking for it.

“I will speak only to any of the five Kingdom Keepers, including Amanda Lockhart and/or Jess Lockhart. State your name, please.”

Amanda glanced over her shoulder at Joe. Now she understood the summons, and why other Cast Members were not being admitted onto the studio property. Joe regarded this appearance as a company secret.

Before she spoke to Dillard’s DHI, Amanda returned to Joe. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“You can see the situation we’re in,” Joe said.

“You did this?”

“No. He appeared sometime overnight. A guard spotted him this morning, just before sunrise.”

“And you have no idea what’s going on?”

“All I can do is speculate,” Joe said. “Prior to his death, Wayne created a project he code-named ‘Luke.’”

“Like the Bible?”

“More like Skywalker. Luke Skywalker saved the New Republic from the Galactic Empire. In the process, he discovered his true origins, learned the history of the Republic, and founded the New Jedi Order.”

“I don’t understand,” Amanda said honestly.

“Wayne prepared a message in case anything happened to him. Those of us who knew him well believed it was probably something like the Stonecutter’s Quill. Something some could decode, but not everyone. Remember when the Keepers—?”

“Yes! But I still don’t understand.”

“There may be more messages of his than this. Wayne was tricky that way. ‘Luke’ was to be triggered by an anomaly in the space-time continuum. In other words, someone, something time-traveling. Wayne claimed to have found a gateway to the past Disneyland. Some laughed, others, not so much. When this morning…Dillard shows up, I knew it had to be part of project Luke. He asked for the Keepers and you two by name. He’d obviously substituted DHIs at some point: the DHI of Dillard for himself. He must have felt having Dillard to speak to you or the Keepers would make more of an emotional impression.”

“He was right about that.”

“What exactly is the message?” Joe asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Amanda said. “I didn’t answer him. I wanted to know what we were getting ourselves into.”

“You won’t know that until you answer.”

“He’s asking for the Keepers or us.”

“Yes, I know. I’ve already tried talking to him. Believe me.” Joe sounded exasperated. “I don’t mean to be rude, but we’re not opening up until we know if there’s a threat or a problem, and that’s up to you to find out.”

Amanda nodded solemnly. “It’s Dillard. It’s not easy.”

Joe placed his hand gently onto her shoulder. “We’ve had our disagreements, Amanda. And listen, I know this is hard. But if you can do it for me, for the company, I’d be very grateful. Wayne means so much to all of us. Any message from him…well…it won’t go ignored.”

Amanda nodded and rejoined Jess, who looked at her expectantly. Her eyes were moist. Amanda squeezed her hand and said, “He basically told me Wayne came up with this. I didn’t tell him about the carving, but I think that’s what made this happen. Wayne had a plan in case the Keepers ever reached out from…back then.”

“It’s strange, seeing him…sitting there.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Dillard said.

The image’s lifelike reaction nearly made both girls turn and run. Taking a deep breath, Amanda stepped forward and spoke her name, followed by Jess.

The projected eyes of Dillard’s DHI shifted back and forth eerily. Computing, they seemed to say as they locked first on Amanda, then Jess. “Excellent! Good to see you both again.”

“Same,” Jess said.

*  *  *

“You understand we can’t talk for long.” Dillard’s DHI voice sounded like he had a bad cold. “These people get nervous.”

“The Imagineers?” Amanda said.

“They don’t like being excluded. If anyone gets within hearing range, I will shut down until they leave. Just so you know.”

“Got it,” Jess said.

“Who sent you?” Amanda asked.

“You know.”

“I guess so, yes.”

“I’m sorry it’s such a short visit. It has to be this way.”

“Don’t go!” both girls shouted, nearly in unison. In the background, Jess saw Joe take a concerned step forward.

All at once, Amanda understood the strange voice: some of the DHI’s words were recordings of Dillard; some belonged to Wayne. She found the jumble off-putting.

“You can understand that this is important,” Dillard said. “I had to count on you two. I am counting on you. If you are here, and you are, then our friends have succeeded in ways I wasn’t sure were possible. One or more of them has broken through. It’s a significant accomplishment. I don’t have any way of knowing if the breakthrough involved you or not, so you will have to take me at my word.”